A suit of armour sat in the middle of a forest clearing, covered in dirt and plants. It is unknown how long it had been sitting there, but the blood red metal under the dirt showed no signs of rust, gleaming in the morning sun. Strangely there were no animals nearby, nor bugs. A faint feeling of death wafted off the armour, scaring any creature that came near it. If anyone had been nearby and able to withstand its presence however, they would notice something odd. The surrounding Essence was still being drawn inside, meaning that whatever was inside the armour was still alive!

The inhabitant was in a state of near hibernation, only subsisting off of the Essence surrounding them, barely aware of their surroundings. In the past they would have searched for other living creatures to battle, but that was long ago and they had lost hope in finding others. Many others would have gone insane in their place, but the warrior cared little, content to absorb the nearby Essence to gain more strength.

They would have continued to do so for much longer if not for a strange and exciting occurrence. A rift formed near them, something that would only happen if a being was moving through the realms. Waking from their hibernation the warrior slowly began to stand, dirt and plants falling to the forest floor as they started walking to the now almost fully formed rift. Drawing the blade that had been half buried at their hip, the blood colored warrior waited for the rift to complete.

The rift itself appeared as a swirling disk of colors, representing the pure Essence of the realms. Many have tried in the past to absorb the Essence, only to be struck down by the very realms themselves. And as the mass of colors began to still the warrior watched as a foot stepped through. As the newcomer emerged the warrior analyzed their opponent.

‘Male, pointed ears, probably elven. Robe, no weapons, possible mage, maybe monk.’ The warrior grinned under their helmet, a smile full of sharpened teeth, that of a predator looking at their prey. It had been so long since they had last fought someone worthy, and hopefully this man will last long enough for a fun battle.

‘His robes are strange, I know some mages color theirs to show off their affinity right? But his are all mixed up, maybe he doesn’t want us to know what he uses? Either way, be careful with this one, I have a bad feeling.’ A second voice went through the warriors mind, one unlike their own. They simply nodded, acknowledging the advice, the grip they had on their blade growing firm. The Elf finally seemed to notice the red armored warrior near him, only reacting with a smirk. He opened his mouth and a voice like birdsong came from him.

“Ah, you must be my welcomer to this new realm! I assure you however that I need no guide as I am perfectly capable of handling myself in a fight. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be going to the nearest city.” He started to turn away only to sense an attack coming from behind him. His smirk only grew however as he seemingly teleported out of the way. The smirk disappeared from his face once he saw the devastation from the attack. Trees and stones were cleanly sliced in half for almost a mile, and the warrior stood with their blade out, their head turning towards the elf.

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‘Looks like that scared him, Ha! Quick, tell him ‘Take my next hit head on if you’re not a coward!’ That’ll rile him up I’m sure!’ The voice once again went through the warriors head, but they paid it no mind, only readying their next attack.

What followed was the elf teleporting out of the way of many quick strikes, becoming more and more shocked at his opponent. Not only were they powerful, incredibly so, but also at how terrifying their weapon was. Not only was it as black as the Abyss, but its very form seemingly flowed like liquid between different shapes, one second a short sword, then a spear, and the next a bow firing condensed Essence as arrows.

Knowing that if this continued he would undoubtedly tire and die, the elf decided to go on the offensive, Essence gathering in his hands. Sensing an attack the warrior jumped back as their weapon became a shield.

‘I knew he’d attack eventually! Now we just have to block it and stab him, we’ve got to be careful though, we still don’t know his affini- Wait no that’s not possible GET AWAY NOW!’ The voice began screaming in their head as the warrior sprinted to the right, hoping to dodge the mages attack. They saw why the voice was scared, the robes of the mage weren’t mixed up to confuse the enemy, it was because he could control the five base elements! They had never even heard of someone with four, let alone five! Realizing that the single attack would kill them instantly, they looked around only to see that there was nowhere to run to. They would get hit by the attack, and they would die.

The warrior had to react quickly, they couldn’t get to the mage in time, and they couldn’t run. In a situation like this most would panic, or resign themselves to their fate, but the warrior is no common person. They are an ancient being, once known throughout the realms as one of the greatest fighters of all. In their time they had amassed and stored countless precious artifacts on them, though only one could help them in this situation. With a thought a scroll appeared in their armoured hands, the weapon now once again a sword sheathed at their side. The elf mage hurried his attack, afraid that the warrior had a hidden trick with that scroll to save their life.

‘So you’re using that huh?’ The voice sounded calm now, all traces of panic leaving it’s voice. ‘You know what’ll happen right, we’ll lose all of this.’ Only a nod was the response they got. ‘Very well, let’s just hope this works, otherwise I’m haunting your ass’

The warrior then sent their essence into the scroll right as the mage fired their spell, a bright flash emerging from them as the armour fell to the ground, empty. The multicolored attack flying far into the distance, crashing into a mountain. The resulting explosion absolutely obliterated it, leaving nothing but rubble and dust. The mage was breathing heavily, looking around to find his opponent. Sensing no fluctuations in the surrounding Essence, he sighed in relief.

After resting for a few moments he went over to the fallen armour, examining it closer this time, as he did his eyes widened in disbelief and his beautiful voice echoed throughout the area.

“I just beat the fucking God of Battle!?”